Q&A with 'Deadliest Catch' star

Transitioning from the monster waves of the Bering Sea to the shores of Sarasota is a drastic change for Edgar Hansen, captain of an Alaska-based crab fishing vessel known as the Northwestern.

Many have probably heard his name — it's featured on the Discovery Channel's award-winning reality show “Deadliest Catch.” The program highlights the day-to-day grind of hauling in massive crab traps made of chain-link fencing material, while also battling the fierce Alaskan elements and dealing with a host of deckhands.

But Hansen, who has been operating the boat for 25 years with his brother, is not in Sarasota out of coincidence. He is a featured guest in many events during the weeklong Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix races.

Hansen will be honored as grand marshal alongside high wire walker Nik Wallenda during the annual boat parade Friday in downtown Sarasota. A Seattle native, it is the captain's first time experiencing the races.

Hansen answered a few questions about fishing, and what similarities powerboat racing may have with his line of work.

Q: How did your family start crab fishing?

A: My dad's been fishing since the 1940s, and migrated over here from Norway without a dime to his name. He got a job mending nets for other boats, until he finally was able to work as a deckhand.

He then saved enough money to buy his own boat called the Foremost. That caught fire and he used the insurance and half the money he saved up to buy the Northwestern in 1977 . . . the boat we still use to this day.

Q: What all goes along with being a captain in the Bering Sea?

A: It's a mental game up there in the wheelhouse, and there's a lot more to it than I thought. It's all about responsibility. Anything that happens on deck is your fault, whether you like it or not. You have to dot your i's and cross your t's with regulations, you're responsible for their paychecks, all the expenses for the boat and make sure your log books are updated. Most importantly, you have to find crab and stay on it.

Q: How often is the Northwestern on the water during the year?

A: That boat's busy for about eight months — all you see on TV is when we fish for Opilio and King crab. We're catching cod and salmon also. After that we have shipyard in April and May when we do all the repairs on the boat.

Q: “Deadliest Catch” will sometimes film boats having problems while out on the water. What has your crew faced over the years?

A: Most of it's unforeseen, and a lot of things you wouldn't see from the outside — engine trouble, propellers wearing out and a lot of electrical stuff. It's anything out there. You're a floating city — your own entity. You rely on your boat to give you what you need. We have water, sewage and even make our own electricity. We need all of these things to work to be able to go fish crab.

It's all overwhelming. You couldn't go to any school to provide you with the knowledge to become a crab fisherman. It's all just gained by experience over the years.

Q: What was one of the scariest situations out on the water?

A: It was at the end of the season, and the wind was blowing at about 60-65 mph. The waves were coming from an angle at our back, and we were in a race to get to the docks because it was first-come, first-serve to offload.

It was my cousin and I up in the wheelhouse, and these freight trains (big waves) were coming in sequences of three. At one point I look over and he grabbed the bottom of his chair and the boat started to roll over, so it's like we're surfing on this wave.

I ended up sitting on a window, and it threw everyone out of their bunks to where they were laying on the walls. That's the only time I've ever been scared out there.

Q: How can you relate superboat racing to dangerous situations in the Bering Sea?

A: We have two guys in the wheelhouse, kind of like how they have a throttle man and a pilot. For us, in those bad weather conditions we sometimes need two of us up there to look at our surroundings, like these guys are looking at theirs during a race.

Obviously they're going a lot faster than us, but it's similar.

Q: Do you see any relation to crab fishing, compared to boat racing?

A: They're adrenaline junkies just like us. At home, I'm the most boring person, but out on the Bering Sea I'll eat you alive. I can be your best friend or your biggest enemy, it all depends on how well you work. It's the adrenaline that keeps you coming back. The almost sinking, but not, keeps you wanting more. I'm sure these racers are the same way because they're thrill seekers like us.

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Q: You could've done any other job, but why crab fishing?

A: It makes you feel alive because it's in my blood and it's what we do. What keeps you coming back is that you realize that this is a job and it's life.

Q: When Suncoast Charities for Children invited you to Sarasota for the Grand Prix, what made you decide to come?

A: There are sick kids all across this country lying in hospital beds that watch Deadliest Catch, with a picture of your boat on the wall as a way of finding strength. They see what we're doing out there just to make money for our families, and it's helping them keep fighting.

It's the only real show out there because they know we're real guys doing a real thing. We're not Jersey Shore - we're a bunch of men in a boat. It's the only way we know how.

With all the other millions of fans out there telling us we're awesome and all that, it's humbling knowing that we can walk into a room and just help kids through charity.

Q: What's it like having the Discovery crew filming your crew constantly?

A: It was really easy the first few years because they were filming a documentary. They'd film, wouldn't say anything and it was like they weren't even there.

Now obviously drama sells, so now they try to pick out the best they can that will work on TV. They try to Hollywood it up, but our boat stays pretty true to who we are. What happens on our boat, happens on our boat.

Q: What do you do to prepare for an accident while you're fishing?

A: The law says we need a minimum of two guys that have CPR and trauma training, but we have three just because we can. Every year we update our training and prepare for those different scenarios.

There are a lot of heart attacks out there, or a lot of guys will stop taking their medication. Even head injuries are common. All we need to do is be able to stabilize a guy long enough to get him back to shore, or until the Coast Guard can airlift him of our boat.

Every month we'll also do four scenarios we train for - abandon ship, fire, man overboard and flooding. We have to know them all, and every crewmember has a certain spot they have to be when the captain rings the alarm.

Everybody has a duty, just like these race boats and their crews.

Q: What do you think it takes to be an adrenaline junky, like a boat racer or crab fisherman?

A: You obviously have to be aware of the consequences. Driving as fast as these race boats do, they're built for it and they have safety precautions. But you can only build something so safe to handle so much.

When these guys hit a wave at 200 mph, it's like hitting concrete. When you're hit by a rogue wave on the Bering Sea, it's the same thing.

Q: What's going through your mind when the boat's hit by a rogue wave?

A: When you hear the alarm go off that a big wave's coming, it gets pretty scary. That's when you hold on, close your eyes and hold your breath because it turns into a washing machine across the deck.

It can knock your sorting table off the boat, or take anything with it. I've seen them get up to 60 feet back a long time ago.

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